Christmas Time and A Scary Time

Hello friends I hope you had a very Merry Christmas and that you are having a happy New Year. I know I have been out of touch lately and not posting as frequently as I usually do but it has been quite a scary time over here. I will get to that in just a minute.

Our Christmas was very quiet. The temps were unbelievably cold. On Friday before Christmas Eve 12 degrees F was the high temp for the day with morning lows at about 6 degrees F. Now that is really cold for us in the south.

My husband had to work all weekend so I went to my sister’s house for Christmas Eve and spent that time with her and my brother in law and nieces and nephews. Christmas Day I spent at home alone watching movies and eating snacks. It was quite wonderful. It would have been better of course if Mark had been there too but it has been this way a lot of holidays for us because of his job. Mark and I didn’t get to open our Christmas presents until Christmas night. That is fine because it’s not like we didn’t know what we were getting anyway. I’m not sure why we carry on with the gift wrapping and everything. We put most of our items that we are interested in in our Amazon gift cart or text pictures of what we want and where to find them. We then purchase them. One of us picks the presents up from the Post Office and then we do wrap them for each other. It sounds silly I know, but that’s just the way we roll over here. I think when you get to be our age you buy what you want when you want it anyway.

My nephew Caleb showing his bear feet house shoes I got him. I spotted them at a small shop close to home and I knew he would love them. His mom says he leaves them at the back door when he leaves and he puts them on the minute he comes back into the house. He is so funny.

One of my very favorite Christmas presents was this shawl wrap thingy that my nephew and his wife got me. I just had to do a runway modeling of it. The Santa hat and the intense model stare just added to it I think. HA! HA!

And now for the scary part. Several days this past week have been spent at the hospital with my sister Sandy. I think I may have mentioned that she has been feeling bad for the last couple of months. Watching her feel worse day after day has taken a toll on our whole family. She had been seeing several doctors for months and was diagnosed with anemia and a couple of other related issues. But she just continued to feel worse with every passing day. The day after Christmas she felt so bad that my brother in law and my nephew took her to the hospital ER. She was admitted and a lot of tests were done. Because she was immunosuppressed from other medications she was taking she was quarantined. Only two people could stay with her in the hospital. So me and my brother in law took turns staying a couple of days at a time. We are relieved to finally have some answers. It is not what we wanted to hear but it could have been so much worse. My sister has large b-cell Lymphoma. We are now in the planning stages with an oncologist so we can start to get her better. Prayers for all she is going to go through in the next few months is appreciated. She is a 35 year survivor of colon cancer. I know how strong she is. I know with God she can do this.

The night my sister was admitted to the hospital we had a freak snow. It snowed and at first it wasn’t bad at all. Then with cars driving on the road, because it happened right around rush hour 4:00 PM, the roads became slick and turned to ice and then more snow fell and it was just treacherous. I had planned to go to the hospital first thing the following morning to be with my sister but my driveway, which is very steep, was covered in snow and ice. Fortunately the temps warmed up fairly quick and with my husband’s help getting my car out of the driveway, I was able to inch my way out. My car is all wheel drive so it does pretty well on the road once I am out of the driveway.

We made the best of being at the hospital. Of course my time there was nothing compared to hers. We watched T.V and TikTok, read and of course I knit. The hospital had a great cafeteria and gift shop. They also had lots of after Christmas sales.

This was my bed for a couple of nights. It looks cozy but the actual bed part felt like a rock hard slab.
A Starbucks inside the hospital. Skinny Caramel Macchiato is my favorite. Iced or hot
A very nice cafeteria. This is what it looks like at 6:00 AM
Window scenes. The snow was still hanging around.

While my brother in law stayed with my sister in the hospital I kept my little nephew dog Max. He is precious and has been such a good boy for me. Even the kitties have adjusted to him. I won’t say they love him but they tolerate him. He is going home today so I will miss him. He is a great little snuggle bunny and loves sleeping right up against me.

So I say goodbye to 2022 with a great deal of relief. I feel that so much has happened this year it has really made me feel vulnerable and insecure. I lost my sister Pat in April, I lost my two precious kitties Milo and Buster just before that, I had Covid, my brother had open heart surgery, but good news there he is doing great!!! My precious dog baby Molly died and then my precious boy Scruffy. And now my sister has been diagnosed with Lymphoma.

I couldn’t sleep last night I was awake most of the night with a lot of thoughts on my mind. Around 3:00 AM I wrote these two Haiku:

So on to 2023. I am still and ever will be grateful for everything I have in my life. I have faith and it is strong. I am so grateful to all of you who take the time to read what I write. When I started this blog it was a way to journal and help keep track of my life through photos and sharing my words. It has become so much more than that to me. Thank you for being here.

Always remember

Love your day your way!!!!

Cherish Your Loved Ones

Well it is just a few days until Christmas and only one day until winter officially arrives. Winter has been flirting with us for a few weeks but is officially declaring its love for us this week. The temps here Friday morning are in the single digits. That is cold for us here in the south.

On Sunday I had our family Christmas gathering at my house. There is usually about twenty people give or take a couple. My husband hates this. Not because of the people and the preparation but because he said I go a “little” crazy during these times. I don’t think I do, but it is possible I tend to get a little nutty about the house and yard and garage and the driveway and just about everything else anyone might possibly see. I want it to all look nice. I did go a bananas last year and I was a little manic with it all. I don’t think I fully enjoyed my family because of it. I was very stressed and it took away from the precious time I had with them. This year I decided to be different. I planned a little better. I got up really early the day of our event and got a lot of things done. I did things a few days in advance…. WHAT???? Is that really me? I even took a nap before everyone arrived, shhhhhh. But it all helped me enjoy my time with my family and realize that if every single little thing didn’t get done, it’s alright.

Last year my sister Pat was with us. She passed away in April. We, of course, had no idea this was her last Christmas with us. All I can think of is that I snapped at her in a hateful way last year during our family Christmas get together. Maybe I was stressed out from having everyone in my home, maybe I was stressed out from work, maybe I was just stressed. But I can’t forget that I did snap at her about something stupid. Of course I also have to laugh because I know she gave it right back to me. That is the way we were and I know it meant nothing to either one of us. But man I would have cherished those moments had I known. I didn’t know this was my last Christmas with her. But when you think about it we should cherish all of them, every single holiday, special occasion and yes just every single day. How do we know this is our last days together. WE DON’T!!! And we’re not meant to.

My sweet sweet sister Pat. She was a one in a trillion. She loved coffee. She always had to have a cup after every meal. She was funny and kind and just the person you would want to be best friends with forever.

But we had a great time. We had many empty seats at our table and it was very noticeable. But we have to cherish the memories of our loved ones that have left us and cherish our loved ones that we see every day.

Me and hubs.
We played dirty Santa and exchanged gifts and stole gifts.
My niece Michelle and her boys, Tyler & Caleb
Me and my niece Kim
Kim’s family.
My brother Donnie and his wife Diane and their granddaughters.
My sister Sandy and her family.
My good friend Kathy, she came for dinner with our wild crew. She was my sister Pat’s best friend. When we lost Pat she lost her best friend, neighbor and confidant. It helps us be together at times like this.

So yes it is sad when our loved ones are no longer with us. But as we remember those precious loved ones, let’s love and cherish the people we have in our lives right this moment. Tell them you love them, you miss them, you hope that they are well and doing fine.

You probably noticed that the word cherish was mentioned several times in this post.

Always remember

Love your day your way!!!!

My Top 10 Favorite Christmas Movies

These are in no particular order but probably my favorite is A Christmas Carol starring George C. Scott

  1. Love the Coopers. This movie stars  Diane Keaton and John Goodman as the mom and dad couple trying to wait until the holidays to tell their adult children they are going to split up. Alan Arkin plays the grandfather. The story is told by the most important family member, the dog. Great music and stories within the story.  
  2. Serendipity starring John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale.  A young couple meet on Christmas Eve and share a few hours together and fall in love. She believes in destiny and says if it is meant to be they will be together some day. They don’t share names or numbers but a way to maybe meet again someday.  Fate is behind everything. No accidents. 
  3. Scrooged. This is a modern retelling of the classic, A Christmas Carol. Bill Murray stars as Frank Crass a mean, selfish, cynical television executive. Frank is of course visited by the traditional three ghosts on Christmas Eve who will attempt to show him the meaning of Christmas.  But underneath it all is a bit of a love story and I am all about that at Christmas.
  4. The Family Stone starring a cast of well known actors, Sarah Jessica Parker, Dermot Mulroney, Diane Keaton, Craig T. Nelson. Everett Stone brings his girlfriend Meredith,Sarah Jessica Parker, home for Christmas where he intends to propose to her. The Stone family are quite a crazy bunch and they don’t really care for the uptight Meredith. This movie is hilarious and a little sad at the end but one of my all time favorites.
  5. The Holiday. Oh I love this movie. This movie stars Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet. Here are two women having guy problems. They decide to get out of town, well actually out of the country and they switch homes with each other, in different countries. Of course they find new loves in each location. Throw in Jack Black who I dearly love in anything and it is just about perfect for Christmas.
  6. Elf. This movie will truly make you believe in Santa again. You will laugh and scream for Buddy the elf. He is so innocent and sweet and he loves SANTA!!!!!! And Buddy says: The best way to spread Christmas cheer is to sing loud for all to hear. You have to watch this!!!! Buddy is played by Will Ferrell and he does an amazing job.
  7. Christmas Vacation. O.K. you know if Chevy Chase is in a movie you are going to laugh yourself silly. Poor Clark is only trying to make a memorable Christmas for his family. His way to make this happen is to string about a million Christmas lights across his house and try to make everyone happy at the same time. Add into the mix his parents, in-laws, and Uncle Eddie and his crew and it is hysterical.
  8. A Christmas Carol. This is probably my favorite of all times. Scrooge is played by George C. Scott and I think he does an outstanding job as Ebenezer Scrooge. This movie is both creepy and endearing. The three ghosts are a little different from any of the scrooge movies I have seen. If you haven’t seen this one watch it. You will love it!!!!
  9. Home Alone. Get ready to laugh until you cry over this one. Macaulay Culkin stars as a boy, Kevin McCallister who is left behind at home when his family accidentally leaves him behind on their Christmas vacation to Paris. A couple of burglars are targeting Kevin’s home because they think it is empty. Kevin has to “burglar proof” his home and keep it safe from the burglars. A good thing he is a LOT smarter than the burglars.
  10. Love Actually. Oh wow a host of stars in this movie, Hugh Grant, Laura Linney, Colin Firth, Alan Rickman, Emma Thompson. This movie is a feel good movie. There is a lot going on and all of it comes together at the end of the movie. My most favorite part is shown at Heathrow Airport. They show shots of people arriving to see loved ones and there is lots of kissing and hugging, my favorite things. But there is such a sweet Christmas theme and lots of romance. I love it.

So what are some of your favorite movies? I have been working my way through this list for the last couple of weeks. I still have a few to go. And you know you just can’t watch them after Christmas. It’s just now the same. Well maybe of few of them you could. I still like to watch Serendipity, The Family Stone and Love Actually all year long.

Always remember

Lover your day your way!!!!!